MLB owners propose banning high school signings, adding an international draft

AI Summary

Major League Baseball owners have proposed new collective bargaining measures including banning high school signings, raising the signing age for international amateurs, and reducing signing bonuses. The amateur draft rounds would also be reduced starting in 2027 under these proposals.

Baseball owners proposed banning high school players from signing with major league teams, raising the age for international amateurs and slashing the money spent on signing bonuses in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement Thursday. The amateur draft for players residing in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico would be cut from 20 rounds to 12 beginning in 2027 under the proposal Major League Baseball made during a bargaining session with the players' association. Starting in 2028, a prospect for the amateur draft would have to be at least 20 years old by the Sept. 1 of his signing year and two years removed from the graduating year of his high school class.